Guitars. A plethora of guitars. Millions –– well, maybe not millions, but a lot. I don’t know what Ty Segall and White Fence (Tim Presley) did to make Hair, but they brought the guitar solo back to rock n’ roll. Sounds like experimentation, a battle of wits. Two psych rock veterans getting weird together.
Did I mention guitars? The drawn
out ending of “The Black Glove/Rag” has more squeals than that 1973 Chevy
Malibu. All eight tracks have a tendency to careen in different directions. For
example, opener “Time” progresses into something unrecognizable from the
previous and very abruptly. Is it a different track? No, but it’ll make sense
in a minute. Presley and Segall trade instruments and vocals throughout, and
they probably switched many pieces of equipment, too. I’m not sure which
instrument is on which musician at any given time, but Segall seems to dominate
some of the guitar tricks due to the sheet metal fuzz ringing out from the din.
This was a project made in stratum.
“Crybaby” is something that could
have had a nice spot on Segall’s Melted
but works well here. He actually cries at the beginning and yells toward the
end behind more of his ridiculous guitar playing. Hair is a lot of fun –– 30 minutes to be exact. It doesn’t
go by that quickly because an album that’s engaging the whole way through is a
record you’ll keep coming back to.
Hair sounded the alarm for the start of the summer. This
further proves the fact of Segall’s prolific talent. The kid can play with
anyone and Presley has found a new friend. Did I talk about the guitars?
